“Times have been dark” more than once in history, and “the world has been falling apart” for centuries, countless times, generation after generation. Today, though, dystopia feels particularly realistic—certified, experienced electronically in real-time, and reinforced by scientific theories now accessible to all. Apocalyptic thinking not only surrounds us—it has become mainstream.
Driven by this condition of hyperawareness, swept by waves of eco-anxiety, saturated by conflict and forced to face a rapidly-evolving reality —a new generation is developing new languages, perhaps forms of reworking, toward new balances, of hope. At the same time, though, the apocalyptic scenarios around us—or rather, upon us—cannot help but permeate our gaze, consciously or otherwise, shaping the creative language of today and the way we parse the world. Like fashion and contemporary art, the world of design is far from impermeable to the lived reality of its time.

On show are extraordinary objects that place the human being in direct, sharp, and reflective confrontation with the planet and its raw matter, but there are also more intimate statements: chairs dressed in leather and trapped in suffocating corsets; furniture made of iron mesh that recalls twelfth-century armor; vases sheathed in rigid metallic busts, others that look like missiles but hold flowers; luminous objects that, when off, resemble daggers not yet drawn, and when lit, reveal the magic of an infinite horizon. Vases and mirrors with lunar surfaces that feature uncanny combinations with synthetic coloured plastics; lamps evoking the alignment of planets—a fatal eclipse, luminous knots that evoke ancestral languages. The scene is both fascinating and disturbing. These objects estrange and seduce. At times they recall a medieval aesthetic, in other moments something primitive, or posthuman, cybernetic. And yet, there is nothing here that belongs to the obscurantism of the so-called “Dark Ages.” These are objects that process, exorcise, and work through inner experience.

Featuring: Panorammma, Jirah, Diaphan Studio, Duccio Maria Gambi, Joy Herro, Natalia Triantafylli, Unicoggetto / Zihan Zhao, Wei Xiaoyan.

“Dark Times, Bright Signs” will open with a performance by one of the exhibiting artists, Jirah, who will activate the objects in space through a personal narrative that reveals their natural and spiritual dimension. “Sitting with Self” is part of Jirah’s ongoing series BECOMING, in which the artist explores “versions of himself” through sculpture, self-portraiture, and reflected image. Seated in one of his Ceremony seats, Jirah faces his sculptural self-portrait in a gesture that is both confrontational and meditative. He “makes edits” in real time — drawing on its surface, reshaping its expression with clay — a ritual of undoing and remaking. The performance reflects on the continual act of self-formation: the ceremony of making oneself over, again and again, where even the darkest aspects become part of the path toward one’s highest self.

The exhibition is curated by Valentina Ciuffi. Creative direction is by Studio Vedèt, with exhibition design by Space Caviar. “Dark Times, Bright Signs” will run until February 2026.